| Machida-Shogun Just Item #1 on UFC's Growing List of Problems |
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| Written by Brad Schjoth | |||||||||||||||
| Tuesday, 27 October 2009 09:28 | |||||||||||||||
 So you want to be Dana White? Maybe not after this week. With the controversy swirling around the decision made in Saturday's light heavyweight championship bout between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio Rua, the UFC has found itself tangled up in outrage and extensive criticism from its most unlikely source -- the fans. And now with the most recent news out of Minnesota, the biggest card to round out 2009 is looking for a main event. Heh, and that's just the beginning.
1. The Dragon vs. Shogun -- to be continued... Not much more can be said about this fight than has already been spewed and tossed around the mixed martial arts community. Despite the bout being extremely competitive and close, the fact still remains that the overwhelming majority of the media, public, fellow fighters, and even the company president himself believes "Shogun" should be wearing the belt. And the fact also remains that the appointed commission judges who ruled on the bout took away an opposing view, deciding unanimously that the incumbent would continue to reign over the 205-pound division. But, perhaps the most damning thing is that Cecil Peoples wasn't the only one! We have come to expect this kind of backward judging from the man who articulated the reason he would have given a round to Matt Hughes was "he's prison strong". Okay, Sensei.
The underlying, mega-issue here is that Dana White and the UFC have no control over who the commission decides to select as judges for even their biggest events. While that's the norm for combative sports, when you start hearing the word "boxing" integrated into sentences with the UFC, that doesn't bode well for the organization. That comparison is one they've strived hard to eliminate from the very beginning, and distance themselves from the fading sport. Judging controversies doesn't help in that effort.
The upside of the situation is Dana White clearly immediately realized how damaging this could potentially be to the organization and the sport, and partially took care of the problem by announcing an immediate rematch.
2. Brock Lesnar Flipping the bird to the on-hand fans and choosing Coors Light because Bud Light doesn't pay him, were just the first string of issues the UFC has had to take on with their heavyweight champion. After finally convincing the community of critics and doubters who had insistantly railed against the signing of a former WWE Superstar, the organization had a tough time reigning in the big man. Now they can't get him in the Octagon.
Lesnar's camp announced Monday that he has dropped out of his upcoming title defense against Shane Carwin at UFC 106, a fight the UFC had heavily promoted and set aside other possible heavyweight matchups in order to make. The reason? He's been sick for weeks and unable to get in the gym to prepare for the hard-hitting knockout artist in Carwin. The exciting, packed November schedule was being counted on for two reasons: to blow away the remaining few who suggest MMA is just a passing fad, and in a direct attempt to upstage the network television debut of Strikeforce. November now takes a major hit, losing one of its major bouts to early 2010.
But hell, why not rub a little salt on the wound? It turns out Lesnar was at the Minnesota Vikings game just last Sunday, showing off some clear lungs when he blew the horn to open the ball game against the Ravens. Smooth.
3. Established champions Anderson Silva, Georges St.-Pierre, and B.J. Penn have defended their respective titles a combined ten times. In Anderson's case, he has held the middleweight crown for over three full years now. The dominance and unbreakability of these three men has drawn suggestions that Silva and GSP should abandon their weight classes and fight up a division (something Silva has successfully done twice already). Penn has also already challenged St.-Pierre at welterweight.
The middleweight division is simply being shut down by the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. There is simply almost no one left that the UFC can throw at Silva that he hasn't already dismantled, and they realized that by re-signing (for the second time) Vitor Belfort. Their gateway to a new avenue was shut off when "Shogun" didn't defeat Machida, as it has been well established "The Spider" and "The Dragon" will never step in the cage against one another.
At 170, GSP sits and waits while the division he presides over becomes an even larger crapshoot, after Martin Kampmann couldn't get by Paul Daley. He now awaits the winner of Hardy-Swick, who aren't even ranked in top five according to Sherdog, and have largely unimpressive résumés. The others hanging around: Fitch, Koscheck and Alves, have already had their opportunities, and Jake Shields is under contract with Strikeforce.
The one title that has been in limbo and unable to be held down is at light heavyweight, where the problems are far larger than who will face who. That said, it has those issues too. Let's imagine the "Shogun"-Machida rematch wasn't happening, and that Lyoto had successfully defended the title via TKO. Who's next? Rashad just had his chance, "Rampage" is off winning Oscars, Forrest couldn't win when he held it, and everyone else just isn't worthy at this point. Many were even surprised that "Shogun" had earned a shot, let alone anyone else in the division.
The UFC had better hope Diego Sanchez knocks off "The Prodigy".
Oh, yeah, and heavyweight? There's a reason the Ultimate Fighter is all big boys.
4. The Ultimate Fighter is stale Think about all the ploys the UFC used to try and peak your interest about yet another season of TUF. They brought in Roy "Big Country" Nelson, pitted Rashad Evans and "Rampage" Jackson against each other as coaches, and even took a chance on Kimbo Slice. All have backfired.
The drama between Rashad and "Rampage", while funny and interesting, means absolutely nothing now that Quinton is "retired" and Evans has moved on to Thiago Silva. So much for that.
Nelson isn't a big enough name to carry an entire season containing utterly boring matchups, and it has been a long time since he's put together an impressive victory.
Kimbo Slice is still exactly who Dana White thought he was. He sucks. Not to mention, that the UFC went back on their word of never signing a street fighter, and it has already been announced that Slice will fight in the finale, despite his early loss to Nelson. Maybe a little desperation on the organization's part.
5. Steve Mazzagatti and the referees Mazzagatti is simply a microcosm of the large problem with the consistency of referees controlling UFC bouts. Once again, this is another batch of guys that are assigned and hired by the athletic commissions. It's also fairly evident what Dana White thinks about Steve Mazzagatti and his capacity to be a mixed martial arts referee. It is hard to make the argument that Mazzagatti prematurely and wrongly decided the fate of Ben Rothwell in his battle with Cain Velasquez, but with the unpredictability of this sport, who's to say Rothwell couldn't survived the onslaught and come out in the next round with a newfangled gameplan? Apparently, Mazzagatti, (who doesn't deserve to watch MMA, let alone ref it in some estimations) does have that say.
6. Fedor Oh, right, that guy. The greatest heavyweight fighter in the world. At last check he is still fighting Brett Rogers for a different promotion ... on national, primetime television ... centered in the huge Chicago market.
All is not well for the kings of the mixed martial arts world.
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Comments (3)
Pat OMalley
said:
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... "It turns out Lesnar was at the Minnesota Vikings game just last Sunday, showing off some clear lungs when he blew the horn to open the ball game against the Ravens. Smooth." It seems from this quote that you question the legitimacy of Brock's sickness. A UFC champion and one of the most recognizable faces in MMA gets positive national media attention and you call BS on him? You may not realize this but blowing that horn for 10 seconds and fighting a potential 25 minute bout are not quite the same. Does this throw a wrench in the works for November? Absolutely. Would this be the first wrench the UFC has dealt with? Absolutely not. The UFC and Dana White have proven time and again that this is a marathon not a sprint. The fact that Dana has relented on not signing people like KImbo have increased his credibility not hurt it. Legit fans have known for some time that Kimbo was not the athlete CBS and Strikeforce heralded him as. Putting him in TUF has simply proven that. Add the ratings increase and it's a strategic homerun for the UFC. Love Dana or hate him, he has shown his desire to make compelling fights happen. Minor setbacks and piss poor officiating/judging are unavoidable. It happens in ALL professional sports. Unlike the other professional sports, Dana has been willing to speak out on the subject and hold people accountable. I appreciate that. |
Blake
said:
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... Also negotiations with Dan Henderson have ended. Thats another good thing for the UFC gone since they didnt come to an agreement on his contract. |
Jason Kazmierczak
said:
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... Um.......football/baseball/basketball/hockey teams all have contract disputes each and every season.....MMA is no different........I am a huge Hendo fan......he will be back.....both sides are playing hardball at the moment. I'd like to see Silva vs GEGARD MOUSASI (205) / Chael Sonnan / Vitor Belfort / Hendo still some very compelling fights there. |
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